The largest flight attendants union in the United States has blasted President Donald Trump‘s effort to deploy Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers at airports, calling it an “invasion” and urging the government to pay Transportation Security Administration officers instead.
“Flight Attendants will not allow the TSA and the frontline Transportation Security Officers (TSOs) who keep us safe to be used as pawns in this dangerous game, nor will we fly in an aviation system that doesn’t put our safety and security first,” the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA (AFA) said in a statement on Sunday. “This latest threat of ICE invasion at the airports is another distraction from solutions that protect Americans.”
In terms of a solution to the shutdown stalemate that has left the Department of Homeland Security unfunded and TSA officers, along with other government workers, unpaid for over a month, the union argued DHS has the money to pay them but has diverted those funds to its other sub-agencies.
“The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has billions of dollars in discretionary funding that could be used to pay TSOs during this partial shutdown, just like they have chosen to continue paying active duty members of the U.S. Coast Guard. The administration has also continued to pay ICE and Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) agents. Instead of paying TSOs, they have chosen to create havoc in our airports,” the statement added.
Trump has supported TSA officers in the past, most notably during the 43-day full government shutdown late last year. But he went in a completely different direction over the weekend in trying to solve the funding dilemma.
In what appeared to be a bid to both address security concerns at airports as TSA officers call out of work and get Senate Democrats to agree to a deal funding DHS, Trump announced that ICE officers would be deployed to airports on Monday.
He originally suggested they would be focused on arresting illegal immigrants, with an emphasis on “those from Somalia.” However, he signaled early Sunday that they would be directly assisting TSA in its work, adding that border czar Tom Homan is overseeing the deployment.
AFA expressed concern in its statement about ICE’s lack of training in handling airport screenings, even in a supplementary role.
TRUMP SAYS ICE WILL ASSIST TSA OFFICERS AT AIRPORTS STARTING MONDAY AMID SHUTDOWN
“TSOs can’t simply be replaced. They undergo a six-month training program in which they learn to screen passengers while evaluating and managing risks within the unique context of an airport — especially how to identify disguised or disassembled weapons and explosives. This is expertise and training that ICE agents simply do not have, and cannot learn quickly. Furthermore, the introduction of ICE agents into airports creates contradictory missions, as attempts to question passengers about immigration status may distract them from ensuring airport security,” the union said.
“There’s one solution that immediately solves the problem at our airports. Pay the people who are already trained to protect us from terror attacks today, especially as the war with Iran increases the desire to strike against Americans. PAY TSA Workers now,” they concluded.